Asking Forgiveness
by Mortalita
Summary: Itachi has been haunted by the ghost of his first love that he killed during the Uchiha massacre, but during a mission he spots someone who looks exactly like her! Is this a ghost coming back to haunt him or a second chance? ItachixOC
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto, nor any of its characters. I do own the plot and other characters not in Naruto.

**Prologue**

He sat up suddenly and the blood that drenched everything from his dreams was still in his mind's eye. He blinked, staring at the person he saw in from of him. It couldn't be her. She was dead. He knew it to the depths of his core. He had _personally_ ended her life. There was no way she could be alive. And yet...there she stood. He shuddered and turned away from her, drawing his blankets up to himself. "Go away, Nakari. Go away."

He didn't like how his voice shook. He hated himself for it. It showed his weakness. It was just like his weakness during that important mission so long ago. He couldn't kill his brother then either. His dark eyes opened slowly and he saw her still standing there. Her ghost looked at him with sad eyes. He could almost hear her voice call out to him, "Itachi..."

The ghost woman's eyes were wide and dark, like his own. She stepped toward him and her steps sounded wet. He looked down and saw nothing. He wondered why he had heard that sound. He looked up and saw that Nakari was close enough to touch. He wanted to. So badly that he could cry. His hand raised slowly and moved to her outstretched hand. His warm fingers trembled as the passed through her hand. "Nakari, I'm sorry."

The longing touch that they couldn't share ripped at the Uchiha's heart as a pungent smell attacked his nose. He blinked hard to clear his vision. Things blurred and when he could focus again Nakari was bleeding slowly. Her hands were pressed against her bleeding stomach as more wounds appeared on her as if from nowhere. To him it looked like she was being attacked by Kamaitachi.

He knew different. He remembered every single wound he had inflicted upon her and knew that her injuries were from him. He stepped closer to her, wanting to pull her fragile body to his, regardless of the blood that dripped down her body. He froze in his movements when she opened her mouth to speak, glistening tears clinging to her pale cheeks. "Itachi-sama, how could you?"

"I..." his voice caught in his throat. He couldn't say it. He knew why he had done it. He _knew_ who had helped him accomplish the deed as well. But knowing wouldn't do anything. He couldn't bring her back to life. He could do nothing to make things right again. Not for her. "Nakari, I..."

Someone knocked on the door. Itachi's dark eyes flashed to it and he looked to where Nakari had stood. The smell of blood was still thick and clung to his senses, but the ghost had left him alone. Maybe...just maybe, he'd be fine. Maybe that was going to be the only time he would see her ever again. He walked to the door and looked at the shark man who stood outside it. "Yes?"

"Breakfast is ready, Itachi-san. It was Deidara's turn to cook." Inside, Itachi winced. The blond wasn't a very good cook, but he was at least better than Tobi, or Zetsu. He didn't trust Zetsu's cooking if meat was involved. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. Why couldn't Deidara's girlfriend cook more often? Kairi could make food way better than anyone else in the Akatsuki.

"I'll be out in a minute." He bit his bottom lip after shutting the door in the shark's face. He needed to calm himself and regain his emotionless mask before leaving his room. He sat on his bed and found himself almost wishing that Nakari's ghost would come back to him. He punched the bed next to him and sighed. It was going to be a long day.


	2. First Visit: The Meeting

A/N:Okay, so here is my attempt at Itachi. I honestly didn't like his character until recently, but after going to Wikipedia and getting some spoilers (I guess...) I realized what an interesting character he really is. So here's my attempt. I'm not sure how romantic it might be, nor violent. (Probably a lot more violent than anything) It might end up with a _lot_ of flashbacks. I have no clue.

Sorry if he seems to be a little OOC, but this is how I think he'd be on the inside...if these circumstances were true.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Naruto, nor any of its characters. I do own the plot and other characters not in Naruto.

_Dedications: To my friend in real life. She's the biggest "Itachi-is-WAY-sexier-than-Sasuke" fan I know of. Her 'codename' is Wolf Mistress Arcania_

* * *

**First Visit:**

_The Meeting_

It had been a week since he had last seen Nakari's ghost in his room. He closed his eyes as he rested against a tree. It was time to relax before returning to the base from his most recent mission. The feel of the rough bark digging into his back was uncomfortable, but at least it reminded him that he was in the world of the living. His cloak was unfastened partway and his left arm rested half out of the opening. His right hand absently played with a bit of grass as he remembered...

* * *

_Nakari blushed prettily as I took her hand. She looked away to hide her tined face but kept walking with me. I didn't mind, at least she was mine. I squeezed her hand and smiled briefly. She inched closer to me as we walked down the main street, eyes for no one but each other. I pulled her closer, chuckling at the startled noise she made. She turned liquid black eyes up to mine and I leaned forward to kiss her._

_A small sound made me stop and I looked down. Sasuke's hand was just inches from my sleeve and he looked embarrassed for interrupting. I knelt in front of my little brother to meet his eyes, without letting go of Nakari's soft hand. I teasingly tapped the underside of my sibling's chin and asked him what the matter was. His answer was stuttering, but he told me that the leader of the village needed to see me._

_I nodded and apologetically asked Nakari to take my brother home while I reported to the Hokage. It was so innocent of me...The very last innocent thing I did._

* * *

Itachi's eyes flew open when he heard someone nearby and stood swiftly. He had picked this place for its secludedness, who else would be here? His eyes pierced the air around him as he scanned his surrounding for where the noise had come from. He stepped away from the tree and heard the footsteps behind him.

Whirling around to face the intruder of his memories, he froze when his eyes landed on her. He wondered if he was, yet again, hallucinating. He blinked, she was still there with a mildly shocked expression on her pale face. He looked _exactly_ like Nakari. Her long black hair was layered around her face, softening it gracefully. A layer underneath the short boy cut was long and hung down over her shoulders. It looked so soft. Itachi suddenly had an urge to sweep the hair off of her neck so he could rest his lips on the graceful curve of her neck.

"Oh!" Her voice was soft and surprised. A sly blush crawled over her cheeks as she met his eyes and she took a step back toward the foliage behind her. "I-I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone would be here." Itachi's heart quickened slightly. Her voice was similar, but different. It sounded...older, more mature. He took a slow step toward her.

"It's quite alright." He could almost hear the disguised purr in his throat. He wanted to face palm himself for that move. What was he thinking? She wasn't his Nakari, no matter how similar they seemed. "If you'll excuse me?" He walked toward her and gently brushed passed her. He needed to leave, and soon, before he found himself doing something that would get him slapped for sure.

"Don't go." Her voice made his heart pound as he halted in his tracks. He waited for her to give him a reason to stay. His body, of course, was listing off many reasons to stay in the very reclusive spot. He stood rooted to the spot, unable to walk away or to turn around and face her. He waited for her reason. "I didn't mean to disrupt your peace. I can find somewhere else." Her voice released him from the unnatural hold his body was in and he turned to look at her.

"No, I need to leave." His voice wasn't cold, but it was exactly warm either. He could almost see her flinch and instantly he started to reprimand himself. Not that it mattered, once he left he might never see her again. _It would be better this way. Nakari is gone, and she won't come back to me._ He left the woman behind him and quickly disappeared into the brush.

* * *

He rested once more outside of the Akatsuki lair. His mind wandered back to the woman that he had left in the clearing he sat in not too long ago. Who was she? Where did she come from? Those were only minor questions in his mind. Was she his second chance? Would he ever see her again? He stood and brushed the thoughts away harshly. He didn't deserve a second chance. Not from her.

He walked in and tossed the scroll at Pein when the leader looked up from the couch he sat on. Pein caught it and nodded to Itachi as the stoic shinobi passed him, ignoring his presence. Pein rolled his eyes but didn't care. Itachi was as he was. Nothing could change him from being quiet and emotionless as a rock. He couldn't even remember the last time the Uchiha had smiled. He watched him walk toward his room and awaited to hear the door slam shut after Itachi disappeared from sight.

Itachi stared at his ceiling, his thoughts muddling through his mind. He closed his eyes, hoping to get some sleep. He knew that he needed sleep, since the last few nights he was completely awake for the mission, and before that he wrestled with his insomniac-like tendencies. He knew that once he slept _she_ would be there again. She was always in his dreams, ever since she had come to his room a week ago.

* * *

_His eyes opened slowly. They were staring at a wooden ceiling. Everything was tinted a blueish silver. It was late at night and the moon shone through the paper sliding door that led outside. Sitting up he looked around. He was back in house old house. Everything around him screamed traditional Japanese setting. He looked down to find himself in a sleeping yukata._

_Outside a wind chime tinkled softly. Itachi moved the blankets off of himself and stood. He had a feeling that he was supposed to be somewhere. That he had to meet someone. His feet moved on his own. He couldn't remember where he was going, let alone see. Once his door was opened, everything turned black. His feet knew where to go._

_The inky blackness could not stop the sounds that came to him, nor the smells. He was outside in the late spring. It was warm and he could hear cicadas whispering around him. In the distance, a bamboo fountain made its steady _tok, tok, tok_. He felt the gravel under his feet, although the feeling wasn't painful or uncomfortable in the very least. He felt a cool breeze cut through the heat and blinked when he was a small pinprick of light ahead of him. He sped his pace, listening to the crunch of the gravel under his feet._

_The pinprick of light grew bigger as he approached it. It took him a while to realize what it was. A lantern lit up a door behind a sliding paper door. He stepped up onto the small ledge that surrounded the house, not that he could see more than the door that appeared in front of him. He took a deep, calming breath and slid it open. Sitting on her futon, Nakari smiled up at him. She stood slowly and walked over to him, her arms outstretched. "I was wondering when you were going to get here." She smelled so good, like jasmine and water lilies._

_He wrapped his arms around her, not wanting to let go. "Sorry, I had to wait for everyone to be asleep before I could sneak out to meet you, Kari-chan." She was soft in his arms and all over her gorgeous curves were pressed against the firm planes of his muscles. His lips found the top of her head, her temple, her cheek...His breath tickled her blushing face. "Can you forgive me?" These words sent a pulse through him. It was like he wasn't supposed to ask her this._

_Something had changed. He could feel the body in his arms shrinking. He let go and pulled her back, only to see that she wasn't the Nakari that he had pulled against himself. This Nakari's eyes were milky white and shrunken in her eye sockets. Her skin was discolored and tight, almost wrinkled. "Itachi-san..." The voice was rasping. "How can I forgive...Itachi-san? How can I forgive you...for _killing_ me?"_

_Itachi stepped away from the rotting corpse. The putrid stench of decaying flesh clung to his clothes as he stumbled backwards, away from her. He couldn't open the door, something was keeping it shut. He pulled on it harder, unable to turn away from the corpse shuffling toward him. His eyes widened as her bottom jaw came unhinged and eventually fell to the ground and turned to dust as it hit the ground. _

_Her claw-like hands gasped for him and he could smell the fetid breath that came panting out of her mouth. Itachi shuddered at her touch and wished that he could pull away more. Her bony hands slid up his chest and he was rooted to the spot. Her grasp found his neck and slowly began to squeeze the breath out of him. "What, Itachi-san? No kiss for your beloved?" She leaned her decomposing mouth toward his..._

* * *

Itachi sat bolt-upright, a silent scream choked him as he rolled over on his futon. He gagged a few times and ran into his bathroom. He shook like a leaf as he clung to the rim of the toilet and dry-heaved until his throat was raw. Thankfully he was quiet enough that no one bothered him. He would have hated anyone to see him like this...haunted by the dead and loosing his grip on reality because of it.

He rinsed out his mouth at the sink and returned to his bed. He didn't sit on it. His obsidian eyes shone with hatred as he looked at the location of his worst encounters with his inner demons. Something told him that he wasn't going to get any more sleep that night. Maybe he might be able to rest enough if he sat and meditated...and he would definitely be less vulnerable that way.

He sighed and sat on his bed and looked at the small window that had a thick black curtain tacked across it to keep all light out. There had been a time when he was unable to sleep with any light in his room. Maybe this time he would need light to get a decent night's rest. He crossed his legs in front of him and folded his hands in his lap and let pale lids slid down over the onyx orbs.

* * *

A/N: This took a few days to write...and I didn't get many reviews (only two! -cries-) so the motivation was very lacking. I won't put the next chapter up until I have at least ten reviews (and I have enabled you people who aren't members to review...SO PLEASE REVIEW! Thankies!


	3. Second Visit: Borderline Insanity

A/N: I have been away on vacation where there is only Dial-up. It was hell. I'm now back and this time I bring the emo-ness of a new chapter! (I couldn't really say happiness now could I?) Okay, so this chapter (for the first half) seems to center on Kisame...I needed some sort of outsider opinion on Itachi's condition, and then he just kind started to think. Damn that fishstick's thought bubbles ;;

I finally named the Nakari-look-alike. It took a while to figure out her name -sweatdrop-

**Second Visit:**

_Borderline Insanity_

Kisame was worried about his partner. As he sat in his room, crooning to the fish in one of the tanks that lined his bedroom's walls, he realized this feeling. It was different for the fish man. He usually didn't care, not unless he was killing or maiming. Ah, maiming...He needed to do that sooner or later. But he couldn't until his partner was better again, which returned him to the concern part of his feelings.

He leaned back on his bed and stared at the ceiling. He wasn't one to give out kind and encouraging words. Itachi didn't receive them usually either. Well, damn. What the hell was expected of him now? He wanted to shed some blood, gnaw on a few bones...be a gory mess when he came home! He loved the look Pein gave him when he came to the base soaked in blood. The way his pierced nose just scrunched up was entertaining.

"Damn it all." Kisame sat up and left his room, just barely managing to not slam the door behind himself. He shuffled down the hallway until he came to Itachi's door and knocked. He gritted his teeth when there was no reply. Just what the hell was Itachi doing shut up in his room in the fricking middle of the day?

The clan-slayer was gently brushing Nakari's hair from her eyes. He hunched over the sleeping form, her head resting in his lap. He smiled, but only just. He was happy that she was there with him...so happy. His pale fingers traced over her cheek, down her neck and then sluggishly back up. Her eyelids fluttered and almost opened.

"Hush, Nakari. Go back to sleep. I'm protecting you." His voice was hardly a whisper. He knew that she could hear him. She didn't obey. Her eyes opened the rest of the way he could see that the sockets were hollow. He jerked back, repulsed, when there was a knock on the door.

His onyx orbs went to rest on Nakari, but she was gone. There was no sign that she had been their either. No depression in the bed, no warmth on the sheets. Itachi sighed to himself and got off the bed and shuffled to his door. He opened it and saw a chest. Looking up, he met the pearly eyes of his partner.

"Yes Kisame-san?" His voice was flatter than usual. Nearly sea-level, maybe even flatter if one of Deidara's explosions had been involved.

"I was wondering if Leader-sama had talked to you recently...about our next mission." The shark man knew that they didn't have a mission to go on at the moment, but that was only since Itachi was on hiatus because of his current depression.

"We have a mission?" The black eyes weren't surprised, they weren't anything at the moment.

"Well, not as of yet but you never know when—" Kisame stopped talking when Pein walked up to them.

"Ah, you're already together, good. I have a mission for you." The pierced leader handed Kisame and scroll before turning on his heel and returning to his office.

"..." Kisame looked at the scroll in his hand. "Are you ready?"

Itachi returned to his room and grabbed a pouch of kunai. He attached them to his belt and slipped on his Akatsuki robe, latching the small hooks up to mid-chest. He let his arm rest there, his hand dangling for the most part and silently looked to his partner.

'Right. Itachi-san isn't really one for talking...even if something is wrong.' Kisame shifted the strap that crossed his chest holding his Samehada close to him. Without a word he turned away from the Uchiha and strode down the hall toward the only entrance and exit to the Lair.

Outside he spotted Kairi out of the corner of his eye. She was sparring with Tobi. More like getting her butt kicked by Tobi, but she was probably learning a thing or two between bruises. The teen ducked under a kick and waved, grinning at Kisame and Itachi as they left.

'Does she really belong here, with a stupid smile on her face like that?' Then he remembered how Tobi acted and took the thought back. She was a good fighter, and had a talent similar to Kisame's, and yet not. His Samehada could drain chakra from an opponent and ingest it. The girl used blade-edged fans to make a blood circuit with her and her adversary and pull their chakra out, turn it into lightning inside her own body and make a crunchy snack for Zetsu out of the offending nin.

Kisame shook his head, trying to get back on track. He was loosing his focus. His focus should be Itachi, his partner needed to come back to reality and soon. The shark sighed inwardly and pushed thoughts of his partner aside for now. If the Uchiha could fight then everything else could be put aside for the mission.

The mission was uneventful. A few resistors, all dead and no more threats to their organization. Itachi waved Kisame off, asking for some time alone. He didn't care if Pein would be pissed at him coming back from the mission late. He wanted time alone somewhere else...a scenic view, was that so much to ask for?

He wandered back to the same place he had been before, where he had run into _her_. It was really out of the way from where he had been to where he needed to go, he knew and didn't care. Some part of him was wondering if he was going to find her there. If by some near-impossible chance that luck would be with him this time. Luck was.

Itachi stared at the woman. She was sleeping out in the open. He almost smiled, but his Uchiha pride slapped him in the face and dared him to. He didn't. He never really came across someone sleeping before, unless he was out to kill them. It was odd, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. The onyx orbs watched as her chest rose and fell with slumber.

He sat down quietly, hoping not to disturb her. He was wrong. She was a very light sleeper and her eyes flew open wide when she saw him in front of her. She opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't summon any words. Her dark eyes were surprised and Itachi couldn't look away. That was one difference between this woman and Nakari. Nakari was an Uchiha, and therefore didn't show her emotions.

"I-I'm sorry." She blushed nervously. "I didn't think..." Her eyes darted away from him for a moment, unnerved. He was so silent and cold. Was he really a human, or a living statue?

"It's alright. I can leave. You were here first." His eyes seemed to be endless caverns to the woman before him, not that he knew that. He did find it a little odd that she was staring at him. Was there something on his face? Hopefully not. The only thing that could possibly be on him was blood. Not a good thing to use as a conversation starter with a stranger.

His eyes were sucking her in. How long had she been staring at him? She jolted to her feet as Itachi stood with a smooth liquidity that wasn't unexpected of his 'tall, dark and handsome'-ness. He was leaving her again, turning away from her in that very moment that it took for her to react to his movement. She didn't want him to go, for some odd reason. What could she say to make him stay?

"Atsuka."

Those onyx eyes returned to hers, "Excuse me?"

"My name, it's Atsuka." She thought that she could see a glimpse of something, surprise maybe? It was buried behind his mask too soon for her to be sure.

He turned to leave, but paused when he got to the edge of the clearing. He glanced back at her, "Itachi." He strode through the plants and left her alone in silence. Almost immediately he leaped away, putting a fair amount of distance between them to prevent her from following and confronting him.

He scolded himself for telling her his name. What kind of playful idiocy was that? It was his first name at that!

_It's not like she gave her last name. Fair is fair._

Itachi beat the small voice in his head senseless. He was confusing this _Atsuka_ with his Nakari. That was all. Simple. He was relapsing again or something. Good.

Wait.

Not good.

Itachi? Going crazy? Oh perfect, that is just what he needed.

He sighed and rubbed his temples slowly as he perched in a tree. He needed to get a hold of himself or something. He needed sleep for that matter, but when a dead person is saying they're in love with you, and then trying to kill you sleep is kind of hard to obtain. You know? Of course you don't.

_Stop second-guessing yourself._

Ooh, goody, more voices in his head. As if himself wasn't enough.

_Grow up. She's not Nakari. She's different. A _change_._

Shut up voice, go away. Itachi wanted to strangle what was talking to him. Badly.

**Hn.**

Itachi jerked and looked up. A hallucination sat in front of him. It had to be. He didn't kill his little brother. He couldn't. Sasuke was alive, and yet he was seeing the younger Uchiha in front of him.

**You're pathetic, Aniki.**

"Hush up, brat." Itachi looked away from the blank stare that came from the boy before him. He wasn't going to take any lip from someone who was alive and daring to berate him in some astral projection-type lunacy.

**You still haven't gotten over Nakari. You were never in love with her, Aniki. It was an arranged marriage, it was _infatuation_. Besides. You killed her, remember? All that crimson blood sliding down your hands and arms? **

This wasn't Sasuke. His brother never talked a lot. His brother was as cold and silent as he was. They were spitting images of each other, really. That wasn't what spoke to Itachi...it was the sadistic sound in his words. It was a hint of something deep within someone, a tone of voice only achieved when someone enjoyed seeing others pain, when they loved the feel of spilling new blood.

Itachi knew that for a fact. He hung around Kisame enough. Kisame was a gory mess in the head. He loved to kill and maim as much as the rest of the Akatsuki all blendered together.

**Hn, you're a wreck. Don't blame me for your insanity.**

The image before him melted and warped to someone else. His father. Itachi swallowed. "Oto-san?"

The spirit glared at him in silent fury and lunged forward. He ghost tried to wrap its hands around Itachi's neck to strangle him. The hands went through him and the visage of his father melted leaving him cold and shaking. He had enough. He wanted this to be over with. No more ghosts.

Itachi opened his eyes that he had closed when his father jumped him. Nakari sat on the limb near him and stared out at the sky that peeked between the leaves.

"What do you want?" He kept his voice soft and emotionless. _Good, you're doing good, Itachi_. He wanted to hit the voice that dripped so heavily with sarcasm.

"What do you think, Itachi-san? I want peace." Nakari turned her eyeless face to him and he flinched, but only slightly.

"How do you get peace by driving me insane?" This question was almost a joke. Something Itachi didn't do. All sorts of changes were bombarding him. It was probably his lack of sleep...yes, that's it.

"I don't. You have to figure it out." She faded from view.

_And to think, she was being nice for a change. Making you insane instead of trying to kill you._

Oh yes, nice all around. Everyone just wanted Itachi to be _happy_ in a damned loony bin.

The Uchiha sighed and stood. It was about time to return to the base before anything else tried to visit and 'make small talk'.

**A/N: **Okay, I'm not too sure about how this chapter is. I think it's kinda sucky, but maybe it isn't. My plans were to put a like paranorm-psycho Itachi thing in every chapter (more fun that way) and a touch of Atsuka. I want him to fall in love with her, you know? And that is kind of hard if she isn't even there.

As always, please **review** I only have six, but in stead of waiting another two weeks I though of being nice! . So...please review. I won't put up the next chapter if I don't have motivation!


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